Valves
Cooling tower valves balance flow between cells, isolate cells for maintenance, and dump the basin. All three functions get neglected until the day someone needs one of them to work.
Understanding the component
Flow control valves balance water between the cells of a crossflow tower and let a cell be isolated. Without working control valves, cells run at whatever flow the piping happens to give them, which means some cells are flooded and some starved, and taking a single cell out for maintenance becomes impossible without shutting the whole tower down. Fiberglass versions are light enough to install without a crane, put less stress on the header pipe and do not corrode.
Butterfly valves handle isolation and throttling on risers and headers. For cooling tower service the details that matter are the coating and the seat: an epoxy-coated body resists the dilute acids, alkalis, salts and salt spray present around a tower, and a resilient tongue-and-groove seat that completely encases the body keeps the flowing water off the metal entirely.
Bottom-dump valves drain the cold water basin, for winter lay-up, maintenance or emergency dumping. They are available from 18 through 60 inches. Because they are used rarely, they are the valves most likely to be seized when finally needed.
We supply components for cooling towers from every manufacturer, including towers whose original makers no longer exist. If it is on your tower, we can identify it.
What actually goes wrong
These are the failures we find in the field, roughly in order of how often we find them. If you recognize one, we can usually tell you what to check next over the phone.
| Failure | What it means |
|---|---|
| Seized from disuse | The classic. A valve that has not been operated in five years will not operate now, and it is invariably discovered at the worst moment. |
| Seat failure | A perished or displaced resilient seat, so the valve no longer shuts off. Means a cell cannot be isolated for work. |
| Stem corrosion and leakage | Water tracking up the stem, and stems corroded into their bushings. |
| Coating breakdown | Once the epoxy is compromised, the exposed metal corrodes quickly in cooling tower service. |
| Broken crossflow valve operators | Snapped stems, stripped acme threads and lost locking bars on flow control valves, so the setting cannot be held. |
| Cracked cast iron bodies | Particularly on older valves that have been through a freeze with water in them. |
Manufacturers and product lines
We are independent, so the recommendation follows your tower, your water and your duty rather than a single manufacturer's catalog.
Bray
Series 30 wafer and Series 31 lug butterfly valves. Epoxy-coated bodies to ANSI 150 hydrostatic requirements, spherically machined and polished discs for bubble-tight shut-off at minimum torque, a through-stem double-D disc connection that eliminates exposed disc screws and taper pins as leak paths, and a tongue-and-groove resilient seat with a molded o-ring that removes the need for flange gaskets. Compatible with ANSI 125/150, BS 10 D and E, DIN 10 and JIS 10 flanges, with ISO 5211 actuator mounting.
Midwest Towers
Fiberglass flow control valves for crossflow towers, designed as direct drop-in replacements requiring no modification to the existing system: galvanized cast iron body, stainless stem and hardware, positive locking bar, heavy-duty neoprene gasket and standard ANSI 125 flange.
Mur-Tek
Fiberglass crossflow flow control valves: light enough to install without a crane, non-corrosive heavy-duty fiberglass construction with stainless components and an acme thread nut assembly, tested at 25 psi.
Polymer Fabrication
Bottom-dump flow control valves from 18" to 60".
Cast iron replacements
Valves for BAC · Baltimore Aircoil towers, including a 20" cast iron valve that is a direct drop-in replacement for the Marley 20" valve.
Names you may find on the nameplate
Including lines that are no longer current. Many of the towers we work on are thirty to fifty years old, and identifying the modern equivalent of a discontinued component is part of the job rather than an obstacle to it.
- Bray Series 30
- Bray Series 31
- Midwest Towers
- Mur-Tek
- Polymer Fabrication
- BAC Pritchard
- Marley 20 inch
What we would tell you on the phone
Operate them on a schedule.
The cheapest thing you can do for cooling tower valves is exercise them once or twice a year and record that you did. Almost every valve we are called to replace failed because it was never moved.
Fiberglass avoids the crane.
On a crossflow tower, swapping a cast iron flow control valve for a fiberglass one removes both the lifting problem and the corrosion problem, and reduces the load the header pipe has to carry.
Check the flange standard.
Cooling tower piping is old and its flange standards vary more than you would expect. Confirm the standard and the bolt pattern before ordering.
Usually replaced or inspected at the same time
Distribution systems
Counterflow header and lateral systems and crossflow distribution basins, including redesign to correct uneven water loading.
View componentNozzles
Gravity-flow basin nozzles and pressurized spray nozzles for crossflow and counterflow distribution: Fisher, Dek-Spray and C.E. Shepherd.
View componentFRP shapes
Pultruded fiberglass angle, channel, tube, decking, grating and walkway sections for structural and safe-access work.
View componentFill
Film and splash fill for counterflow and crossflow towers, including fouling-resistant grades: Brentwood and C.E. Shepherd.
View componentSend us the nameplate and we will identify it
The fastest route to a correct quote is a photograph of the nameplate and of the component in place. Model numbers get superseded and drawings go missing; photographs do not lie.
- Phone
- (713) 643-0691
- Shop & office
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3811 Cedar Blvd Ste A
Baytown, TX 77523